Itagaki Manabu
Itagaki Manabu (板垣 学,'' lit. itagaki manabu'') is the tritagonist of Hajime no Ippo. He is a Featherweight out boxer renowned for his speed and genius boxing talent. His trainer is Shinoda Tomoyuki. He, along with Makunouchi Ippo, Takamura Mamoru, Aoki Masaru, and Kimura Tatsuya, round out the core members of the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. His surname is Itagaki. In Japan, surnames are listed before given names. History Itagaki originally tried out and prevailed at many sports, but when he tried boxing he came across Imai Kyousuke and was defeated by him 3 times. In order to defeat him no matter what, he skipped college and instead joined the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. After Umezawa Masahiko retired from the Makunouchi Fishing Boat in order to pursue his own dreams, Itagaki took over his job. He now receives the same kind of work training that Ippo went through. After a tough fight with Imai, Itagaki captured the East Japan Rookie King title and has seemingly tapped into his true fighting potential; his speed, reflexes and timing are now said to be at genius levels. He knocked out the West Japan Rookie King, Hoshi Hiroyuki, with just a few blows, and recently defeated two of the fastest characters in the series in the Class A Tournament: Karasawa Takuzou and Saeki Takuma. He has now gained the attention of the OPBF Champion, Miyata Ichirou, as well as the number 1 ranking in Japan, giving him top priority to fight Ippo Makunouchi should he decide to join a different gym. After, if not during his fight with Karasawa Takuzou, Itagaki seemed to undergo a bout of insanity to the point that, without realizing it, he reached out to Ippo with what seemed to be a murderous air about him. Luckily, his towel fell, and he caught himself. but for now he doesn't know what he was feeling then. His KO time for Karasawa is 2:13 into the second round, 2 seconds faster than Ippo's KO time. His KO time for Saeki is 1:28 into the fourth round, almost a minute faster than Ippo's KO time. After defeating Karasawa, he has earned the unofficial title of the fastest boxer in Japan. Match History Successions Appearance Itagaki has a very toned and lean build suitable for both his weight class and fighting style. He has brown hair that stretches to the base of his neck, thin eyebrows and matching dark-colored eyes. He seems to favor wearing headbands to keep his oversized bangs from obscuring his vision. Nicknames, etc. Personality The newest member of the Kamogawa troupe is a remarkably friendly and cheerful young man. Itagaki's open personality allows him to get along with just about anyone, including and especially the fearsome Mashiba Ryou. Beneath his disposition lies a bitterness toward rival Imai Kyousuke (despite the latter viewing him as a friend) and the losses he experienced in the past. As opposed to Ippo, Itagaki has proven himself to be immature and overconfident of his speed and flexibility. He is rarely ever afraid of other characters. Despite Ippo being his senpai, Itagaki often watches after him like an older brother, defending him during discussions about boxing and reassuring him when he loses confidence. He is attracted to Mashiba Kumi, though he tries to keep this a secret from Ippo and has never made a romantic advance on her out of respect for her and Ippo's relationship. He respects Ippo a great deal, but in truth, he is jealous of him and desires much of Ippo's fortune. Currently, Itagaki has made beating Ippo's KO times his primary goal. It is his unique way of challenging his idol. Like the rest of his family, Itagaki possesses a terrible sense of humor and has the tendency to crack some lame puns. He states that this "Itagaki Family Way" is what keeps their family cheery from their poor financial situation. Fighting Style .]] Itagaki is based on "Sugar" Ray Leonard. He has an amazing boxing sense and is considered by many to be a genius of the sport. His depth perception, reflexes, and timing are all far above average. He has been seen easily avoiding Mashiba Ryou's Flicker Jabs in sparring sessions, and Mashiba claims that his speed even exceeds Miyata Ichirou's. His only weakness appears to be his small body's inability to withstand pain. .]] Techniques *Sway *Back-Step *Counter *Cross-counter *Jolt Counter *Porcupine *Bullet Time *Neck spin *Dragon Fish Blow *Ali Shuffle *Itagaki Shuffle (Full Body Feint) *Liver Blow Weaknesses Like Miyata, Itagaki has weak punches. Although he has several KO wins to his record, he was never able to KO the fighter-type Imai Kyousuke. Itagaki also has a fragile body and is susceptible to body blows. Furthermore, he is notoriously cocky. Nearly all of his matches ended up troublesome when he decided to do something flashy or unnecessarily risky. It should also be noted that Itagaki sometimes has difficulty focusing during his matches, which in his case significantly decreases his performance. In the words of Shinoda: "His true strength only manifests when he's relaxed and focuses his concentration to its upper limits. That's what lets him use his true potential." When frustrated, Itagaki tends to adopt a repetitive pattern of going forward and backward from his opponent. Gallery Placeholder.jpg Trivia *Itagaki didn't win the title of All Japan Rookie King championship because his fight with Imai Kyousuke had left him in a bad condition for a long time, and unable to meet the deadline of the final match. However, after defeating Hoshi Hiroyuki, the boxer he should have fought for the title, many characters now consider him the All Japan Rookie King. *Itagaki falls into the Speed Triangle, which consists of fellow Japanese Boxers Saeki Takuma and Ichiro Miyata, who are all gifted with almost superhuman speed and footwork. *When entering the ring, he always jumps onto the corner post and shouts "Ita--gakiiin!!!", simultaneously making the pose from the anime Magnerobo Ga-Kiin. "Gaakiiin" is short for gathering energy. After sweep wins he is known to perform a backflip in his corner. Category:Active boxers Category:Male characters Category:Characters from Japan Category:Kamogawa Boxing Gym Category:Featherweights Category:Out Boxers Category:Eastern Japan Rookie King Manabu Category:Makunouchi Fishing Boat Category:All Japan Rookie King Category:Boxers Category:Orthodox Boxers Category:Genius Boxers